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Not So Scary: Easy Steps to Canning

THE fruits and vegetables that seduce us early in the season (asparagus, spring onions, rhubarb and now strawberries) make me greedy. I fall hard and completely, happy to lug home cumbersome bags from the farmers’ market and create a still life on my kitchen counter of big bunches of vegetables and piles of berries. I want to incorporate all of it into every meal. I want to capture the moment and bottle it.

And now is an excellent time. Perhaps you have made freezer jam or quick refrigerator pickles, those red onions in vinegar, sugar and salt. I’m hoping spring will tempt you to try preservation, a fancy word for canning, and like the act itself, not as scary as it sounds.

You probably have most of what you need: a stockpot large enough to cover the jars with at least two inches of water; a heavy-bottomed pot for cooking the jam (enameled cast iron like Le Creuset, copper or stainless steel). Avoid aluminum as it can leach, leaving your preserves or pickles tasting of metal. Rubber-coated jar lifters are nice, but a pair of tongs with rubber bands wrapped around each of the pincers will provide the same security in lifting the hot jars from boiling water. A big stack of clean dish towels completes the must-haves.

You can buy your jars at the hardware store, where they are usually sold in sizes of half-pint, best for jam, or pint, ideal for pickles. Thrift stores and flea markets are great places to find used jars, but check that they are not chipped or cracked. And be sure to use jars that are made for canning, generally marked Ball or Kerr, with flat lids and rings that hold the lids on tight. The jars and rings are reusable, but lids should be new each time you preserve.

Here’s how it works: When the filled and closed jars are lowered into a bath of boiling water, the temperatures inside and outside the jars will equalize, bringing the contents of the jar to 212 degrees Fahrenheit and making them safe for shelf storage. The gasket on the underside of each lid forms a seal as the contents come to temperature, and will ping as the suction draws the lid tight.

It is such a satisfying and alluring sound, telling you that you have successfully protected the contents. If you don’t hear it, or if the seal otherwise fails, you can simply repeat the process. But you can avoid seal failure by not overfilling the jars and by completely cleaning the rim before placing the lid on top.

Photo

Asparagus and spring onions, some of the produce that can be pickled.Credit
Amanda Lucidon for The New York Times

Some of the trepidation surrounding canning is about all that boiling water. Does the phrase “sterilize the jars” strike fear in your heart? Not to worry. Just run them through the dishwasher. If you have no dishwasher or do not trust yours to do the job properly, use that same big stockpot to boil the jars for 10 minutes. You can leave them in the water until it is time to fill them; by then, the water will have cooled a bit and you are less likely to burn yourself.

I use a small saucepan to boil the rings — mostly, just to be sure they are clean. Then I add the lids after turning off the heat. (Canners who boil their jars sometimes put the rings into the same pot, then add the lids for just a minute to soften their rubber gaskets.)

Which brings us to the heart of the matter: Many first-timers fear canning because they are afraid they won’t know if they have done it safely. They worry they might somehow end up making their families sick. You should take no chances; when in doubt, throw it out.

But you may be reassured to know that sugar and vinegar are natural preservatives and make it less likely that bacteria will grow inside your jars. Mold is a more likely problem, but even that is rare. To be safe, check the seals. Label and date every jar and use what you make within a year.

And follow common sense. There are so many reasons to preserve the best of the season. Your kitchen will smell divine. Your family and friends may want to help. Or you may find solitary work in the kitchen to be an exquisite break from a busy schedule, a chance to listen to music or the ballgame. Veterans extol the meditative nature of an afternoon spent making preserves.

Then there’s the joy, months later, when those preserves make an appearance long after the last of the in-season berries were scattered over the morning oatmeal. Your breakfast toast, bagels or biscuits will be much improved. You will want your jam stirred into plain yogurt, rolled into a crepe, spread between layers of a cake or incorporated into a very special P.B. and J.

Those asparagus and spring onions? As pickles, they are an excellent accompaniment to transform a bit of charcuterie or salumi into a memorable antipasto.